Swatch plans to fight “iWatch” trademark

Administrator

09:41, May 5, 2014

Is the iWatch real? We’re sure that’s the question many of us are wondering, and so far there seems to be evidence to suggest that it is. This is mainly thanks to trademark filings for the iWatch moniker which we saw back in 2013 in countries such as Mexico, Taiwan, and Japan.

In fact a change to the iWatch trademark filing this year which classified it as a watch only served to fan the flames. That being said, it seems that Swiss watch manufacturer, Swatch, isn’t too thrilled about Apple using the name iWatch and has recently announced their intention to fight Apple on the trademark.

The reason is because the watch maker has a lineup of watches called the ISwatch. They believe that the iWatch name might end up confusing customers. In a statement Swatch released to Watson, “We assess the likelihood of confusion as given, the marks are confusingly similar. In all countries where the mark is registered, we go against it before.”

This is not the first time that Swatch has attempted to block iWatch trademark registrations, although with the launch of the iWatch reportedly approaching (pegged for a release in the later part of the year), we’re guessing Swatch could be stepping up their efforts. In any case we’re not sure how this one will play out, but what do you guys think? Will Apple fight back or will they be changing the name, assuming that is the name of the final device?